Stephen Franzese, a final year Parade College student of 2018, has crafted three distinctive artworks depicting Parade College’s Bundoora Campus, to compliment a crayon and charcoal image of the ‘Old Bluestone’ Pile’ which currently hangs on a wall at Old Paradians’ Association central.

Stephen’s works, which combine both linocut and screen printing, feature iconic images of the campus – from the Nash Learning Centre façade through to the bell tower flanking the Rivergum Theatre, the glorious native trees that punctuate the wide open grounds, and the cross which breaks the skies over College Hall.

The bold, vibrant works, which emerged from Stephen’s preliminary photographs and pencil sketches, have been more than 12 months in the making, during which time he also completed his VCE year at Parade and commenced his first year at Melbourne University. The coloured layers were screen printed with the use of stencils, while the details in black involved printing with lino.

“I’m very proud of what I’ve been able to achieve with the works,” Stephen said.

“I hope that I have managed to capture the essence of Parade College Bundoora. I think it showcases a lot of different facets of the school. It might be a subliminal thing, but the common theme with all of these landmarks featured is that you invariably have to look up to see them.”

Stephen’s works will shortly take their place on a wall within the Association’s office in the administration building at the Bundoora Campus.

For Stephen, there’s a justifiable sense of pride that his art will be showcased at the auld alma mater.

As he said: “This was part of why I was quite happy to complete these works - that I could leave some sort of thumbprint at my old school”.